Journey's End
by Yoski
Summary: 27 years have passed since Buu was defeated. Peace reigns over the Earth and everyone has gone on with their lives; laughing, working, crying and loving. But eventually everything has to come to an end, and time is running out for the last two Saiyans.
1. Chapter 1: Gray

**I don't own Dragon Ball or any of its characters. This story is based on the events of the official Dragon Ball Online timeline. GT never happened.**

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><p>The Son household was cheerful and full of life while they ate. It had been a while since the whole family had come together to dine. With Gohan researching, Goten working and about to get married, and Pan finishing college and running Satan's fighting school, they had come to treasure what little time they had together, especially since there was a noticeably empty seat at the table.<p>

Chichi had died of natural causes a couple of years ago. Her sudden heart attack had come as a shock for the Sons, and Goku had been devastated. He had always thought he would die again in some great battle for the Earth and stay dead this time (again), but the world had actually enjoyed peace for the longest time yet. With the support of Pan, Uub and, surprisingly, Vegeta, Goku had gone back to his old self, but he still gave a long and nostalgic look to Chichi's seat every time they all sat down to eat.

That day, the menu included a large serving of grilled chicken, beef stew, baked potatoes, broccoli cream and chocolate cake. It wasn't much, but Goku wouldn't complain to Videl. He knew that she had never possessed the culinary skills Chichi had. Videl also had a job, so preparing a meal that was on time was actually an impressive feat in and of itself.

Just as Goku was starting to eat his large slice of chocolate cake, the phone rang twice and Pan went to answer.

"I'll get it!" she said in a cheerful tone "Son Family, how can I help you?" her eyes brightened a little "Oh, Bra! How are you? We haven't talked in ages! Fine? Tell me, what's up?"

"Oh that reminds me..." Gohan stood up and took his empty dishes to the sink. "I need to ask Bulma to let me use her lab. There are some tests I want to run and-"

"A Senzu bean? Hold on." Pan blinked a little surprised and covered the phone with her hand. "Dad, Grandpa, Uncle Goten? Do you have a spare senzu bean?" she asked out loud.

Gohan shook his head.

"Did Vegeta have an accident in the Gravity Room? Weren't you training with him, dad?" Goten searched his pockets but he remembered it had been a while since he had any senzu on him. There hadn't been a reason to carry it. "Sorry, no luck" he shrugged at his niece.

"We stopped sparring like half a year ago" Goku said with a sad sigh. "It's been boring ever since..."

"Hey!" Pan frowned "I have been training with you, haven't I?"

Goku's shoulder raised a little and he laughed nervously and went back to finish his cake while he looked for the bean in his clothes with his free hand.

"_Oh,_ _I haf one_" Goku still had his mouth full of chocolate cake, raising his hand and showing a senzu.

"Ah, great" Pan nodded at her grandfather "Bra? Yeah, grandpa has one. Do you want him to use IT right away? Yeah, ok. Grandpa-" she hanged the phone.

Goku swallowed the whole slice in one go. "Yeah, I'm ready" he was already taking his two fingers to his forehead but Pan waved her arm.

"Wait! I want to go too! It's been a while since I visited Bra. Let me go with you" she rushed to his side and grabbed his red shirt. Goku gave her a cheerful smile and concentrated on Bra's ki.

"Please, dad! Tell Bulma I want to speak with her about the-" Gohan tried to remind his father but they were gone in the blink of an eye. "...-lab" The man sighed and he heard Videl chuckling at the table.

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><p>"Oi!"<p>

Bra gasped a little at the sudden appearance of Pan and Son Goku. She would never get used to it. Goku usually came to Capsule Corp flying with his family, but the few times he had used Instant Transmission he had always startled her. Goku never teleported directly to Vegeta because he knew the royal prince would take it as an offense.

"Good, you are here" Bra said with slight relief. Pan hugged her best friend.

"It's been a while, huh!" Pan giggled but Bra just gave her half a smile. Goku recognized her somber mood very quickly.

"So, what happened?" he tried to locate Vegeta's ki inside the building. To his surprise, it was weak. Bulma was with him.

"Well... umm." she didn't know exactly how to say it. "I guess you will have to see for yourself"

They made their way to the infirmary. Goku knew the place well from when he had begun sparring with Vegeta some years ago. Bra knocked on the door and opened it slightly.

"Mom, Son Goku and Pan are here. They brought the senzu" she said in a low voice. Goku was getting tense; he could tell something was not right. Bulma said nothing for a couple of seconds but then motioned them inside. Bra opened the door and let Pan and Goku pass.

The sight of Vegeta was simply shocking. It wasn't the oxygen mask or the bandages on his arms and chest. No, he had been in much worse shape after previous fights and training exercises. Neither Goku nor Pan cared about those wounds.

They stared at his hair, baffled. It had gone completely gray. Pan was speechless. Goku's eyes darkened and he moved closer to the other side of the bed.

He now looked like someone on his sixties, but even then still a little younger than Bulma.

"Goku" Bulma was caressing Vegeta's forehead with one hand and extended the other to retrieve the senzu. Goku handed it over wordlessly, watching as she leaned closer to the wounded Saiyan's face to whisper something to him before placing the senzu on his mouth. He was visibly in pain and Goku could only imagine that he must have severe internal injuries.

Vegeta swallowed and after a second his face relaxed. He opened his eyes slowly and looked at Bulma silently.

Behind them, Bra took Pan's hand without her noticing at first. She looked anxious and Pan put her arm around her friend's shoulders. She knew this had to be hard on her.

Vegeta gave Goku an annoyed look. "Kakarot, stop staring, you idiot" he moved up and sat at the edge of the bed.

Goku took his eyes off him and stared at the ground in silence. Neither of them spoke and finally Bulma sighed and touched Vegeta's shoulder.

"Girls, let's go outside. Alright?" Vegeta nodded at her, his simple way of thanking his wife for some privacy with the fool of Kakarot. He would have questions, surely. This was going to be a painful talk, he thought.

Pan and Bra looked at each other with worry but followed Bulma out of the infirmary. Once they had closed the door, Vegeta walked over to the great windows and leaned against the wall, looking at the sunset that was irritatingly appropriate.

Vegeta glanced at Kakarot, who was still staring at the floor in silence. The taller Saiyan's face was riddled with confusion and... denial? Yes, it was denial. Vegeta shook his head.

"Kakarot, did the cat eat your tongue? Don't stand there like a fool. Speak!" he demanded of the warrior.

"What happened?" Goku whispered in disbelief, the only thing he was able to say.

"I have told you before. We Saiyans stay in our prime longer than humans, although we have almost the same life spans. Once we reach a certain point, we age quickly."

Goku said nothing but he was like an open book, sadness written all over his face.

"Don't you dare pity me, Kakarot" Vegeta warned, narrowing his eyes.

Goku shook his head "No, of course not. It's just-" Goku tried to explain but the words left him. He closed his eyes trying to clear his mind. "I just thought you would have more time thanks to your royal blood and all that." He tried to smile, but it was too difficult.

"I already knew the day would come, so let it pass. I can still train but, as today's incident proves, 1500Gs are out of the question. I have enough with Bra and Trunk's worried looks, and don't even start with me about Bulma..."

"You can't blame them. They love you."

"_I know_" Vegeta closed his eyes. For anyone who didn't know him well they wouldn't have realized the small corner of his mouth turning up slightly.

"So... that's why you stopped sparring with me, right? It means we are not going to spar anymore, right?" Goku asked trying to hide his disappointment, and to Vegeta's surprise, the words hurt. After finishing his training with Uub, Goku had kept visiting the Briefs regularly, trying to make up for lost time. He didn't want Bulma to yell at him again for not dropping by. He would come with Goten or Pan and then go out to have a friendly spar with Vegeta. It had been one of those things that had kept him going after Chichi died.

"_Hn_, your stupid concern will just get in the way. There's no point really" He shrugged. It wasn't the main reason but the truth wasn't far from that. He simply didn't want Kakarot to see him age like this.

"How did it start?" Goku crossed his arms and moved to the other side of the window looking at the sunset too. "Was it fast?"

"You could say that. During our last spar I could tell there was something wrong with my hands and arms" He showed the bandages that were still on him. "It went slowly downhill from there. My legs, my back…the hair. It's been about five months since then" He didn't mind to tell Kakarot about this. The fool needed to know, because his fate would be similar if there wasn't another dangerous foe that would take their lives first. "I was angry today and tried to push my limits… but after this" he looked at the infirmary bed with disgust. Bulma would never forgive him if he went a far enough to accidentally die. She had made him promise he would not try to harm himself after Buu, but he did not intend to keep that promise if his family was ever in jeopardy again. He would willingly die for them as many times as was necessary… but he had to agree that 'death by training' would make Bulma force Uranai Baba to take her to the Other World to scream at him. He would not take his chances.

Suddenly, Goku's eyes brightened and he smiled. "Wait Vegeta… I have the solution!" Vegeta glanced at him curiously and shook his head like he had just read his mind.

"No, we can't use them"

Goku blinked confused. "Oh c'mon. It's just a simple and harmless wish." He said tentatively. For the first time in decades he actually wanted to make a wish to the Dragonballs. It wouldn't be the first time someone wanted to regain their youth through the power of Shen Long, and it was not like Vegeta would turn on them again after so many years. "Why not?"

"I don't want to live longer than her" Vegeta's words were like a slap for Goku.

"Ah… Of course " he nodded, his face darkened, erasing the possibility completely from his mind. He would have said the same if Chichi had been still alive.

"Whatever" he shrugged and started to move to the door. The talk was over. It was now time to hear Bulma scolding him about the accident and expressing concern for his wellbeing.

"Hey, Vegeta…"

The prince looked back expecting another 'great idea' out of Kakarot, but it took the taller Saiyan a couple of seconds to finally speak.

"I'll be there if you need me" Goku said with all honesty. Vegeta frowned and walked out of the room as he didn't care. Goku managed to hear the prince say one more thing before disappearing into the hallway.

"_I know._"


	2. Chapter 2: Pain

**I don't own Dragon Ball or any of it's characters. This is bases on the events of the official Dragon Ball Online timeline.**

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><p>The morning light touched Pan's face and she frowned turning around grunting, burying her head into the pillow. It was a Saturday and she had hoped to get a little more rest than usual. She was studying for her finals and giving classes in the afternoon at the Mr. Satan's Martial Arts. To balance both activities had taken quite a toll on her but this was her last semester in college and soon she would dedicate full time to the martial arts school.<p>

For a second, Pan wondered why the house was so quiet and quickly remembered her mother had told her she would leave earlier to check some issues in the Satan City Police Department and her dad was away on an important conference for all weekend. She chuckled imagining that if Bra had been in her position, she would have taken the opportunity to throw a big party in the ausence of her parents. That also made her remember the incident from two weeks ago at the Briefs' house.

Neither Goku or Pan had said a word about the reason why Vegeta had needed a Senzu last time. Both of them knew that information was only for them to share, and Pan was sure they would soon find out anyway. She was actually surprised Uncle Goten hadn't learned about it yet because he would hang out with Trunks every friday night for drinks after work. If Trunks hadn't brought it up until now, it was best to just let it be.

Her father would also soon find out as he was still looking to use Bulma's lab for his research. Maybe that was the reason why Bra hadn't contacted her in months... she would spill the beans and was trying to avoid it. In any case, it had been really disturbing seeing Vegeta finally change just like the rest of the humans around her. He had kept the same look for as long as she could remember. With that, her mind drifted to the distinctive sound of her Grandpa Goku training outside, in the garden between their two houses. She finally sat on the edge of the bed and stretched while yawning.

She walked over the window and moved the curtains a little to open it.

"Yo! Morning Pan!" Goku turned around when he heard the window open. "I thought you would sleep more. Did I woke you up with my training? Sorry!" he asked with a smile.

"Nah, grandpa. I guess I couldn't go back to sleep now" she leaned forward. "Are you hungry?"

"Are you kidding! I'm starving! What do you have in mind?" he placed a hand over his stomach just as a loud growl came from it. Pan covered her mouth chuckling.

"I don't know. Let me change and I'll check what's in the kitchen. Will you call uncle Goten?"

"Oh, he's gone too. A date or something, I'm not sure" Goku shrugged not caring about that kind of stuff as usual. "More food for me then!"

Pan took some shorts and a tank top and went outside to her grandpa's house. Goku was already checking the fridge for their options.

Pan moved to his side and opened the pantry.

"Mmmh... I think I can make pancakes" she said crossing her arms while looking at the ingredients available.

"Sure! That would be great" Goku went to sit at the table while Pan started to make a mountain of pancakes for them.

After the Saiyan had almost swallowed most of his share, Goku and Pan felt a familiar ki flying, approaching the house and they smiled. She took most of the plates empty plates and placed them on the sink to wash later.

_*knock knock*_

"Coming!" Pan took her time to open the door. "Hey Uub!" she said even before seeing the man standing on the porch.

"Heh, glad to see you Pan. How are you?" he asked.

"Just finishing breakfast" she opened the door and motioned him inside.

"Uub, come! Have a seat! You need to try these. Pan makes wonderful pancakes!" Goku assured the man and Pan blushed a little.

"Grandpa... I don't think Uub came only for breakfast" she cleared her throat.

Pan had come to terms with Uub for a while now. Pan had not liked Uub at all back when she was just a kid. He had taken away HER grandpa to train. It had not been fair! She couldn't see a reason why she had not been allowed to accompany them on their trip. Still, Uub hadn't meant to do that himself and everything was instead Goku's idea. Once she had grown a little more, she realized she could not blame the older kid and that's was just how her grandpa was and behaved. Always looking for the next big fight.

"Thanks, but that's ok. I already ate something before taking off from home" Uub sat beside them in the table. "It's been a while Goku"

"Was it really that much?" he scratched the back of his head. "You know I sometimes loose track of time when I train, sorry! But, speaking of which, have you been keeping up with your training?"

"Yes, almost every day. I also started teaching my younger brothers"

"How's your village then?" Pan asked him with interest. Grandpa Satan had donated money to help the food crisis at his village many years ago, but she hadn't heard if it had actually made a difference.

"Very well too. We have been using our skills to till and harvest the surrounding fields. Cheaper and quicker than any machine!" the dark skinned man laughed heartily. "In fact, that's why I'm here. I wanted to take a day off now that I can afford it and have a spar with you, Goku"

The change on Goku's face was almost instantaneous. The mention of a serious spar thrilled him.

"You know I'm ready whenever you are. We will see the results of your latest training"

"Hey, wait a second. I want to spar too." Pan intervened, more than a little offended that she had been suddenly left out of the equation. She had no plans of getting left behind like last time "What about Uub and _ME_ against you? That should add a little more of a challenge"

Goku looked at Uub to see if he had any objection.

"Sure, I would certainly appreciate the assistance" Uub nodded at the young woman.

"Then it's settled!" Goku cheered getting up.

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><p>Goku, Uub and Pan arrived to the sparring grounds after an hour of flying. The place had been almost completely destroyed with the course of the years, specially every time Vegeta and Goku sparred. By now, there wasn't really any other place they would risk to have fight. Bulma had actually used a cover story to keep curious people away from the place: Capsule Corp would be testing explosives and new armament in the area, so the entrance was strictly prohibited. The dangers were real, worse than any conventional weapon. Anyone getting too close when the serious spars happened would have been surely <em>obliterated <em>by the energy blasts.

Today the sky was clear and a refreshing wind caressed their faces. This promised to be an excellent day.

Goku hovered a few meters away from Uub and Pan waiting for them to get ready. Pan did some stretches and Uub bent backwards to test his flexibility. After a minute or so, they stared at each other, and without an additional word, they started fighting.

Pan immediately pushed her speed. It was the only way she could actually land a punch in Goku but he evaded her almost effortlessly. Uub came close behind throwing a flurry of punches and kicks and he actually managed to make the Saiyan duck and retreat a couple of meters.

"Oops! That was close!" Goku said with a big smile on his face, keeping up with them. After almost half an hour of playing, Uub and Pan jumped back to rethink their strategy.

"This is no good. He's too fast and he's not even tired" Pan said panting a little, trying to catch her breath.

"No, you are doing great, but we need to take another approach." Uub said sighing. Goku was certainly putting his mind into it. Usually by this time, Uub had already landed several hits on the Saiyan, but this time he didn't feel like playing. He seemed to want to push them as far as he could.

"Wait... I have an idea." Pan said grinning.

Goku looked amused when Pan whispered something to Uub. The dark skinned man returned her smile and nodded. Whatever she had told him seemed like a good plan and Goku couldn't wait to see what they had in store for him.

"Ready!" he called to his granddaughter and his student.

Pan and Uub nodded to each other and took off. This time, Uub flew ahead, raising his Ki to the max closing to the Saiyan at top speed. This made Goku fall back into a defensive position, ready to block the incoming attack. But suddenly, Uub closed his eyes and turned high up into the sky.

"Huh?" Goku blinked and realized that Pan had been just a couple of meters behind Uub. She had her hands open at each side of her face, her mouth already shouting...

"_**TAIYO-KEN!**_"

"Oh crap" Goku barely had the time to close his eyes to avoid the blinding light. He was fairly surprised. He hadn't taught Pan that technique so he wondered if Gohan or even Krillin had showed her how to do it. He felt Pan's ki approaching and he dodged one, two punches as he quickly regained his sight. Even with his vision impaired momentarily, he could still follow the movement of her ki easily.

It was then when Pan decided to put all her power in a round kick that finally forced Goku to block with his left arm. He winced.

Pan froze. Something was wrong. That wasn't supposed to happen. Even with her strongest hit she had never actually managed to hurt her Grandpa in a spar. Goku looked just as confused and surprised as her and both of them lost the battle's momentum for a second lowering their defenses. She was about to ask something but realized the situation they were in.

"UUB! WAIT-" Something fell from the sky like a meteor, hitting Goku in the back with lightning speed and with a tremendous force, sending him spiraling down directly to the ground. Debris and rocks exploded hundreds of feet below them and a cloud of dust rose in the air.

"Wha-?" Uub had replaced Goku's place in front of Pan, his victorious smile fading. "That was much better than expected. I thought he would block that."

"GRANDPA!" Pan called to him after the initial shock passed. As she got closer to the crater, she managed to see the bright orange gi emerging from the rubble. The Saiyan has massaging his neck.

"Woah Uub! You got me there! That was a very well thought plan, Pan! Letting Uub get high up and disappearing his Ki so I couldn't feel or hear him approaching because of the Taiyo-ken. That was excellent team work!" he laughed as he got up. Pan touched ground and stared at him with worry.

"To tell you the truth, I was just only hoping to land a decent kick. I guess we got lucky. Pan managed to get your guard down" Uub landed besides the young woman and laughed too.

"Grandpa?" her tone was serious and full with concern. She didn't need to ask anything else.

"Uhm?" Goku looked at her with a nervous smile trying to avoid the matter, just for her to glare at him. Gods, that look! It was like that time when he had been in the hospital for a month and Chichi would glare at him that same way every time he exerted himself. "I'm fine Pan. You have gotten stronger. I'm proud of you"

"I'll have to agree with you, Goku" Uub patted Pan in the back. "You were really impressive out there, Pan"

"Heh, thanks." she wasn't really looking for praise right now. In any other situation she would have laughed and high fived with Uub, but... she had a sinking feeling in her stomach.

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><p>They went back to the Son's house and talked and joked for a while until it was time for lunch and Uub went back to his village. Pan's worry was almost forgotten after her mother arrived and asked her to help prepare lunch, talking about how was her study going and her plans for the weekend.<p>

Goku eventually made his way out of the kitchen without them noticing and went to his room. He closed the door behind him and looked down at the hand he had used to block Pan's kick. She hadn't hurt him but the pain, although fleeting, had surprised him the most. He couldn't avoid but to wonder how long he'd have before showing clear signs of aging, just like Vegeta.

He shook his head. There was no point thinking about that and worrying. Whatever would happen, would happen, and he would make the most of his training until then. With that in mind he went down stairs to share a hearty lunch with Videl and Pan wearing his usual cheerful smile.

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading this. <strong>I hope you like the story so far.<strong> I apologize in advance if you find any grammatical errors as English is not my main language. Be sure to leave a review to let me know what you think of it!**


	3. Chapter 3: Blood

**I don't own Dragon Ball or any of its characters. This story is based on the events of the official Dragon Ball Online timeline. GT never happened. **

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><p>The smell of coffee filled the kitchen, and Gohan started to hum as he drank another cup and went through the pages of the newspaper. Things were going good in the planet by the looks of it. Sure, there was always the '<em>imminent economic crisis<em>' but not a word of alien invasions or supernatural incidents. That had to count for something, right? Besides, he had been in quite a good mood for several days now. The conference he attended the previous week had been a complete success and the first results of his research had been widely welcomed by the scientific community. He had even thought on taking Videl and Pan for a fancy dinner to celebrate, but lately Pan seemed to be under much stress from college and the training school so she really needed all the time available until the next vacation. He reached to grab another donut but, looking at his watch, he suddenly remembered what time was it.

"Uh-oh" he folded the newspaper and walked upstairs to his daughter bedroom, knocking twice. "Pan, sweetie, it's already past nine. Weren't you going to meet with your classmates to finish your project?" he called her from the other side of the door. Gohan heard a loud _TUD _and the young woman scrambling to get up from the floor.

_"Oh shit, oh shit._.. Ah, YES! I'll be down in a minute!"

Gohan chuckled and went back to the kitchen table. Knowing Pan was running late, he served a glass of milk and two slices of toast with orange marmalade on a plate for her to grab. Just as he was finishing placing them on the table, Pan appeared on the chair gulping down her breakfast.

"Thanks dad!"

"Don't mention it" he patted her in the back and moved to the other side "I wanted to give you a little more time to rest. You have been really busy all week and it was starting to show" he sat on his place grabbing the newspaper again.

Pan murmured something like 'That's ok, don't worry', but her mouth was full of toast, so it was difficult to understand her. In truth Pan had barely spent any time at home that week. She would return past midnight from working on her group project on a friend's house and then work on her own final paper. If she had crossed more than 10 words with her mother the previous day, it was actually pushing it.

"Hey, Pan. I was thinking on doing something fun with all the family when you are free. You know... like go to the beach with your grandpa and uncle Goten."

"Sounds good" she said starting to drink the milk in one go. As soon as she finished, Pan took the plate and glass and went to leave them on the sink, but before she could get there, the movement from the wide window on her right caught her attention. She took a couple of steps towards there and could see Goku outside going through his morning routine of stretches and katas. A warm smile appeared on her face.

Maybe she had overreacted when they sparred a week ago. He didn't look bad at all. There he was, as fresh and energetic as ever. Maybe she was indeed getting stronger. Heck! She would be very pissed if she wasn't. She had trained her ass off every day for years now. Maybe she was just worrying too much. Maybe-

Her eyes widened suddenly and she didn't even register when the glass and plate crashed into the floor. The sound startled Gohan on his seat.

"Pan?" he turned around to see if there was something wrong with his daughter. He saw her looking out through the window, her face was pale and in complete shock. "Pan?" Gohan frowned and went immediately at her side, only for her to rush past him without even paying attention "What's going on!" he turned to the window but he couldn't understand what had shocked her so much. It was just his father training normally. He gave chase outside.

"Grandpa!" she shouted from the door as she ran to him.

"Yo!" Goku raised his hand and beamed a huge smile at her "How are-?"

"Turn around!" she ordered him with urgency.

"Wha-?" Goku was taken back by the sudden order. "Is there... is there something in my back? A spider?" he tried to look at his back and to reach between his shoulders.

"Turn around!" she said again but he was still trying to get off whatever was in his back. "Grandpa, please, don't move!" she pulled his face down to her level and glared at him. That instantly made him froze in place. It was, after all, the "_Chichi glare_" that had made him stop whatever he was doing for almost 40 years. Old habits die hard, Goku guessed. Pan then turned his face gently to the right so she could see something in the back of his head.

"What is going on, Pan?" Gohan had watched everything from a couple of meters away and was walking towards them.

Goku could have sworn he felt Pan's hand twitch in his hair but she said nothing else. She just let her dad get to her side and peek over her shoulder.

"_What the hell?_" Gohan murmured in shock. Pan let Goku's head go, but now Gohan was the one trying to touch his hair.

"What? What is it?" Goku asked earnestly but something in his granddaughter's eyes told him he already knew the answer.

"Dad, part of your hair is completely gray in the back" Gohan told him very concerned.

"Oh" Goku's lips made a thin line at first realizing the severity of that statement but then he just brushed it off "Well, that's quite a surprise isn't?"

Pan face was serious, but Goku just knew she was on the verge of tears. He knew she was fighting them with all her will. He smiled at her and tried to mess her hair.

"I'm fine Pan, this is just-"

"No, you are not fine" she said as a matter of fact.

"What?" Gohan called from behind, still baffled at the discovery.

"This is natural" Goku continued to explain "Vegeta told me-"

"No, it is NOT!" her voice cracked at the last word but she made a monumental effort not to break down crying.

"But-"

"It took Vegeta over 5 months to get where he's now. You were fine a week ago! A week, grandpa! Half your hair is almost all gray!"

"What are you two talking about? Vegeta is like this too?" Gohan finally intervened, trying to make sense of what they were saying. Goku sighed and told him everything about the incident with Vegeta some weeks ago and what he had explained him about aging up. Gohan knew about the longer youth of Saiyans before hand, but the aging time frame was a new piece of information he didn't have.

"I..." Gohan cleared his throat trying to keep his composure "I'll have to agree with Pan, dad."

"Oh, come on. It's only hair. Our hair turns golden when we transform. It really doesn't make a difference if it's gray now" he tried to laugh it but his son and granddaughter shook their head.

"It's not just about that. If what you are telling me is right, this should have taken you longer to show. A week is just too fast for a natural change. We should ask Bulma and Vegeta to check you up"

"What?" Goku pouted a little annoyed.

"Grandpa, please" she grabbed his arm, her face full of concern. Goku sighed and nodded.

"Alright, alright... we will go see Bulma first. I don't think Vegeta will be thrilled if we interrupt his morning training"

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><p>Vegeta sent two energy blasts towards the training robots. They deflected them as expected and the Prince dodged the incoming attacks without much of a problem. The control panel of the gravity room read a stable 300G and things were looking good for the moment. It was certainly lower than he would have liked but at least his body wasn't giving him trouble at this level. He stopped the training exercise as soon as he felt Kakarot's ki teleporting into the Capsule Corp. compound.<p>

The clown had brought Pan and his son with him, which was a little strange. Gohan would usually come by himself flying or using a capsule airplane with his wife. Vegeta shrugged and threw a towel over his shoulder. By their ki signature he realized they were with Bulma and Bra at the main office. Maybe they were going to ask for the Dragon Radar? For a second he imagined Kakarot had decided to look for the Dragon Balls himself to make him younger again, but he snorted and took the idea off his mind. Kakarot would never go against his wish of just letting his life take its natural course. In any case he started to make his way towards the Woman's office, but they quickly move to the lab.

"Huh" Vegeta remembered Gohan had asked previously if he could make use of the labs but there was no reason for him to bring his daughter and the fool of Kakarot with him. Suddenly, Kakarot's ki peaked and Vegeta felt Pan, Gohan and even Bra's ki trying to subdue the full blooded Saiyan. _"What the fuck-?"_

Vegeta rushed to their location and when he was about to arrive, one of the walls of the lab exploded in front of him, with Gohan raising from the debris and going back inside in a hurry. "DAD! PLEASE!"

"NO! NO WAY!" Goku screamed in panic. Pan and Bra were trying to hold him down from each side, stopping him from teleporting away. Bulma was sitting in the back of the lab, not very amused at the damage to her property, holding a syringe and just waiting for them to kept Goku from moving.

"GRANDPA! We need a blood sample!"

"NEVER!" he yelled just as Gohan powered up to Super Saiyan and tried to tackle him down.

"Dad! Help us out!" Bra realized her father was by the hole of the wall watching everything unfold.

"VEGETA! HELP ME!" Goku pleaded dragging the half Saiyans towards the door, trying to reach the Prince.

"_Oh, for fuck's sake"_ Vegeta stomped inside the lab, ignoring the hands, shouting and begging directed at him, and walked to Bulma.

"Any ideas?" she asked raising an eyebrow and fixing the position of her glasses. He just mumbled and cursed under his breath looking for something in the medical kit by her side. He grabbed a scalpel and approached the clown.

"STAY STILL, YOU IDIOT!" he grabbed Kakarot's arm and, with a quick motion, made a clean cut in it. Bra and Pan gasped at the wound he had just inflicted and gave a step back as blood started to steadily flow. Gohan was somewhat startled but held his father in place.

"OUCH!" Goku looked at his arm surprised. "Vegeta!"

"There! Take all the blood you need" Vegeta dropped the scalpel over a desk and pushed the younger Saiyan onto a chair. Goku had calmed down like nothing had happened. Bulma sighed taking a small vial and moving closer to take a sample.

"Bra, will you please dress that wound before he bleeds all over your mother's lab when she finish?"

"Huh, erh, yes!" she hurried to get the bandages and antiseptic ready.

"Wasn't that a little over-?" midway Gohan's complaint, Vegeta narrowed his eyes dangerously and clown's son dropped the issue.

"Dammit, Kakarot, I can't believe you still make a scene over this" the Prince growled.

"I hate shots! You all know that" Goku let Bra and Pan help him with his wound. "I thought she would check my eyes or something..."

"Now let's see" Bulma putted a couple of drops of blood on the crystal slide and then placed it under the lens of the microscope. There was a small silence while she studied the sample. The others couldn't see her well, but Vegeta realized she frowned. "Vegeta, would you please pass me the sample labeled v70 from the case over there?" she pointed out without taking her eyes from the microscope.

"Hmph" he walked over and took out another slide with an encased drop of blood. He realized this was a sample she had taken some months ago from him. "Here"

She replaced Goku's sample with it and again took a little while looking at them. Vegeta went to lean against the nearest wall with his arm closed around his chest.

"So...?" Pan was the first one to talk. Goku's arm was fully dressed and fine by then.

"There's something off. I can't tell you exactly what right now, but maybe he's sick indeed" Bulma said turning around to face them.

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked.

"Let me show you" she pushed a button on the microscope that sent the image to the screen on her right. "These are Goku's cells right now... and these are Vegeta's cells from when he started to show the first signs of aging"

Gohan's face was shocked. "That's... that's just not possible."

Vegeta frowned and even moved closer to have a better look with the rest.

"What is it?" Pan and Bra asked almost at the same time. Goku was strangely quiet watching the screen from behind them, still sitting in the chair.

"Goku's cell right now show a greater deterioration than Vegeta's cell months ago" Bulma started to input data on another computer. "If I was to take a sample from Vegeta in this moment, they should be very similar"

"But Vegeta is... how much older than him? 5 years?" Gohan looked at the computer.

"No. Fourteen years" Vegeta corrected.

"What?" Pan raised her head "I was under the impression that..."

"He was dead for a year before I came to Earth. He regained that year on the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but then I spent 2 years in there. Afterwards, he was dead for 7 years, meaning his _body _is about 14 years younger than mine. I'm 71 but his body should be 57."

"That's right..." Gohan nodded.

"So aging before 60 is normal for Saiyan standards?" Bulma asked him not entirely convinced.

"Not at all. I never heard of anyone starting this young." Vegeta shook his head "The common Saiyan would start aging by the end of their sixties. Most of the ones reaching this stage would eventually die on a fight to younger and more capable warriors."

Goku's head finally looked up at those words with interest.

"Well, in any case, all we know is that his cells are heavily damaged. It could be another virus... I don't see anything here but I might need to run a couple of more tests before any conclusions..."

Vegeta suddenly caught Kakarot's movement. He had been quiet this whole time but now he was lowering his head between his shoulders. Vegeta remembered he would have that pose every time Chichi scolded him.

"You. You know something" he called at Kakarot.

"Wha-? M-me?" he blinked. "No, not at all"

"Dad?" Gohan recognized the look on the Saiyan's face too.

"Spit it out, Kakarot"

"No, no... I mean..." Goku scratched his head nervously "Is just... well, _MAYBE_ I know what's going on. But if it is what I think it is…"

"Grandpa! Tell us! Maybe we can stop it from affecting you any further"

"That's the problem. I don't think there's anything you can do"

"Oh? Is that so?" Bulma felt a little offended to be told she could not find a solution for such a problem. Goku simply nodded.

"I think..." he sighed slowly and crossed his arms "I think it was the Super Saiyan 3 form"

A general silence fell on the lab.

"How?" Gohan was trying to think on a reason himself.

"Well, I actually developed the technique to be used on the Other World. It was much easier to keep it active there as I didn't need to worry about the strain to my body. But then... when I first used it here, it consumed so much energy that it depleted my time on Earth. And then…"

"And then, you were brought back to life and used the Super Saiyan 3 form against Buu" Vegeta closed his eyes at the realization.

"Yeah, I mean, I even asked you to distract him while I tried to recharge my energy but my body couldn't handle it anymore. That was the whole reason I had to do the Genki-Dama. I was so fatigued that I couldn't even power up to base Super Saiyan."

"The amount of energy you body had to hold in that form was just monstrous. I was sure there had to be another drawback besides the small time you could use it" Vegeta shook his head.

"I guess so" Goku shrugged looking at the screen.

"So that fight in Super Saiyan 3 state deteriorated your living body by a decade and a half" Bulma said almost as a matter of fact.

"Yes"

Bulma turned off the computer and took her glasses off slowly. He was right, without the magical help of the Dragon Balls, there was nothing she could do to help him.

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><p><strong>Hello! Thanks for your support! I'd love to know what you think of the story so far. Things are moving along and I think there are at least a couple of chapters left for this story.<strong>


	4. Chapter 4: Instinct

**I don't own Dragon Ball or any of its characters. This story is based on the events of the official Dragon Ball Online timeline. ****GT never happened. To clear things up, here I place the current ages of the characters so far:**

**Goku 64 (physically 57), ****Vegeta 71, ****Bulma 68, ****Gohan 45, ****Videl 44, ****Trunks 35, ****Goten 34, ******Uub 27, **********Bra 23, ********Pan 22.**

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><p>The days on the Son's house went by with little change after their visit to Capsule Corp and Goku wouldn't have it any other way. As always, he didn't seem much worried by the preliminary results of Bulma's test. He kept his characteristic aloof smile and dismissed the concerned looks of his family. He even joked wondering if he would also turn into an old geezer like Master Roshi or the Grand Kaioshin. He simply kept his daily routine and eventually everything seemed to return to normal.<p>

Except for Pan.

The young woman had suddenly felt to urge to spent time with him and would use every opportunity to go on a spar. After an exhausting training session, Pan sat in the ground panting and gasping for air. Every muscle on her body was aching and she was covered in sweat. Goku hovered to her side and sat looking at her carefully.

"We can take a break, you know" he scratched the bridge of his nose. Pan just looked up trying to catch her breath.

"No-... I'm-... OK" she shook her head but even her neck hurt. She had to admit she was impressed. She thought her grandpa's skills would also decline with his age but he still seemed quite capable of keep fighting. Goku had barely broken a sweat after hours of training.

He patted her in the back. "Mmh... actually, I was getting hungry" he got up and rubbed his growling belly "Maybe we should go back home anyway. It's getting dark too. Don't you have that big test tomorrow? Is the last one, right? I thought you had to study a lot for that"

Pan's breath finally became steady. "I finished studying a week ago. I'll just read my notes before going to sleep. I just wanted to clear up my mind for a while and..." she grew quiet and looked away.

"Uhm? What's wrong?"

"Grandpa, be honest with me, will ya?"

"Of course!"

"Have I truly become stronger? Uub told me I had gotten better but…" Goku was going to open his mouth but Pan rose her hands like trying to stop him and kept talking "I know I'll never be stronger than Trunks and Goten, but I just wanted to know how far behind I am"

"Pan" he crouched beside her with a very serious look "You are at their level"

Her eyes widened but then she shook her head. "Stop joking, grandpa" she chuckled and poked him in his ribs.

"Ouch, but it's the truth!" Goku was a little surprised she didn't believe him. "You've been honing your skills all these years! Sure, they train now and then, but Trunks has been helping in Capsule Corp for a decade, and Goten has also been working him. So far you are the only one who actually takes training seriously!" he made a pause but corrected himself quickly "-Oh, wait, you and Vegeta. He takes his training seriously too, but you know how he is"

Pan was speechless for a couple of seconds but soon a warm smile appeared on her face.

"Grandpa, I..." Goku's stomach complained loudly again and they both burst out laughing. "Alright, you win grandpa. Let's go back for dinner, otherwise you will scare off the wildlife in this area" she stood up dusting off her clothes.

-It's time- The thought popped up in the back of his mind while he was watching her in silence.

"Are we flying or teleporting?" Pan's voice took him out of his trance.

"Ah... instant transmission. Gee, I can't wait to have dinner!"

"Ok, I'm ready" she grabbed his arm and Goku immediately took them back to their garden. "Let me just shower and I'll join you at the table. Mom should have cooked something by now" she gave two steps towards her front door before turning around and adding "Try not to eat it all, grandpa! This time save something for me!"

"Heh! I can't promise that!" Goku laughed sheepishly but as soon as she entered the house he went also to take a quick shower and change his clothes too. By the time Pan had came down to the dining table, Goku was half way his share of food. Goten was also sitting with them, while Gohan was helping Videl serve the rest of the dishes while he explained something to them.

"…so I adjusted the machines and the first test was successful. Bulma agrees that if we can replicate the right wave frequency we could very well-"

"You realize I don't understand half of what you are talking about, right?" Goten interrupted his older brother with a exasperate tone.

"It's not that complicated, Goten. Even you could help me out in this project" Gohan sat besides his father.

"Hi, uncle Goten" Pan rushed to the closest empty chair and started to take as much food as her plate could hold before it disappeared from the table.

"Hey, Pan." Goten greeted her but kept his attention to his brother "Listen, I don't know all that science stuff. I doubt I could be of any use of you two."

"You can blast '_stuff_' for us" Gohan shrugged.

"What?"

"You really didn't even try to put attention to what I was saying?" Gohan raised an eyebrow and sighed.

"Erh… sorry" Goten scratched the back of his head, a trait that had been passed down from Goku.

"Dad wants to research Ki" Pan explained before stuffing half a baked potato in her mouth.

"What? Really? But why? You know how that works"

"Not in the way I want. Do you remember I had some trouble teaching Videl about ki?"

Videl snorted "How could he not? He made a huge rock explode in front of me. I bet you guys were making fun of me behind my back" she said rolling her eyes.

"N-no, not at all!" Gohan waved his hand nervously.

"Heh, your face was priceless with that demonstration" Goten snickered.

"Well, one thing is to experience Ki yourself like we all have, but the truth is… there are no scientific studies regarding such kind of energy. Common people would never grasp some of these concepts unless it's properly researched and measured."

Pan was going to grab the butter from the center of the table, when she realized Goku had finished eating and was just watching them talk. He had done so many times before, but there was something different in this case. He was taking the scene as a whole, memorizing every detail. When their eyes met, he turned his head to the side and smiled at Pan.

She didn't know what, but he was hiding something. Pan tried to finish her meal quickly, but Goku got up from the table.

"I'm going for a walk" he announced happily. His sons simply gave him a nod of acknowledge and went back to their discussion about Ki. He glanced at Pan. "I'll be back later" he again smiled and left the house soon after.

Like it or not, the rest of the night Pan had to focus on her notes before going to sleep, so she didn't realize the moment her grandfather teleported away during his walk thought the mountains a little before midnight.

* * *

><p>Vegeta opened his eyes slowly and found himself still indarkness. At the terrace outside his room Kakarot's ki had appeared.<p>

-What time is it?- he turned around carefully not to move Bulma on his side. He looked at the digital clock in the nightstand. -2:00 a.m.? What does he want?- he grunted raising slowly from the bed.

Bulma shifted a little and Vegeta froze waiting to see if she would wake up. Lucky for him she just mumbled something about a strawberry pie and drifted back to the realm of dreams.

-This better be important- he thought touching the cold floor with his bare feet and putting some pants. Vegeta opened the sliding door to the terrace and exited the bedroom quickly without a sound. Kakarot was sitting on the railing looking up to the clear starry sky. The taller Saiyan didn't say a word to the Prince at first, but simply gave him a quick glance and a nod.

Strange... Vegeta usually had to endure his annoying greetings but this time Kakarot was keeping to himself.

"What is it? You didn't just come here to look at the stars. The view should be better in your house in the middle of nowhere" Vegeta snorted but Kakarot didn't exactly answer.

"Hn" Goku shrugged and kept staring at the night. Vegeta was now getting slightly intrigued, he wouldn't say so, of course, but he began to analyze the other Saiyan trying to figure out the reason.

Finally, Goku turned to face him with a guilty look. He tried to say something but couldn't find the words.

Vegeta frowned. "It's well past midnight Kakarot. You can't go around waking people-"

"I can feel it, Vegeta" Goku interrupted him mid sentence.

"Feel what?"

"I don't have much time" he said with finality. Vegeta rolled his eyes.

"Kakarot, you are exaggerating. Sure, you are aging quicker than expected but that doesn't mean-"

"I asked Baba" This time the Prince placed all his attention on him. "I won't be here by the end of the month"

The silence that fell between was so tense that could be cut with a knife. Vegeta wasn't sure what had just happened but something had just crumbled in his chest. He placed his hand on his forehead and massaged it trying to disappear the strange headache. "Say again?"

"I have like two... maybe three weeks. Baba suggested to leave everything in order"

Vegeta clenched his fist. "You gotta be kidding me." The fool be damned, this wasn't supposed to happen! The two men stared at each other for what it could have felt like an eternity. Goku finally broke the silence looking away into the city.

"It's like that time when Trunks first arrived from the future. He told me I would die of the heart virus. This time there won't be a medicine for that, right?" he smiled and placed his hand in the back of his head with a sheepish expression.

This wasn't the moment to joke! Vegeta wanted to scream at him, and the only reason he wasn't was because his wife was sleeping just a few meters from them. All of his plans were thrown to the ground. Kakarot continued talking.

"Back then I felt really bad knowing I would die like that. Not because I would, but because-"

"You felt you needed to die in a fight" Vegeta finished the sentence. Kakarot nodded with a guilty look on his face.

"Is in our blood, isn't? You said something like that the other day. That most Saiyan warriors would be dead by this age. They would go to look for a challenge, wouldn't they? I certainly feel like that..." he chuckled again.

"Yes, but unless something stronger than Majin Buu appears out of nowhere, you won't be getting killed any time soon" Vegeta was starting to calm down. Kakarot at least understood the source of his feelings, that had to count for something. Vegeta walked to his side with arms folded and both looked into the distance, waiting for something, anything, to pop out into existence. A new intergalactic emperor, a demon, an unspeakable horror that they would promptly beat up or die trying. But they were truly alone, weren't they? Nothing that would compare to them. The last two pure Saiyans in the universe.

"I wanted you to kill me" Vegeta said out of nowhere and Goku's eye bucked and he stepped back in shock.

"_What!?_" Goku blurted out loudly. Vegeta turned to shhh him.

"Keep you voice down, you fool!" Vegeta growled, anxiously looking back to the sliding doors of the bedroom and pulling Goku up from the shirt as he started to hover higher over the Capsule Corp compound.

"What are you talking about!?" Goku followed him up, but now, Vegeta was unwilling to talk.

-Kami, why in hell did I tell him that?- Vegeta was mentally kicking himself.

"Vegeta..." Goku looked at Vegeta very concerned with those annoying eyes of him. How he hated that look.

"I wanted to face you some years from now, alright?" Vegeta snapped "I wanted you to fight me. At full strength. I wanted to have a true warrior's death."

Goku blinked, full understanding settling in. "And you won't have that either because I'll be gone by then"

"Hmph" Vegeta turned his back to Kakarot with frustration.

Silence.

Sometimes it would happen that Goku and Vegeta didn't need to speak to convey an idea. Specially if it had to do with fighting. Vegeta blamed it on their blood. They were after all true Saiyan warriors. He would also liked to blame the Potara earrings, but he would be lying to himself. The connection had been there well before they even fused. None of their friends or family would ever get to understand that. The earthlings would never feel the thrill of the fight, the need to surpass their limits, an excitement unlike any other. It was a feeling that most of the time would topple any other concern. He only shared that with Kakarot now. Their children had gone their own ways, embracing their human side. They trained but they were not driven by that almost primal instinct, unlike them.

That warrior's link was so powerful, that right now Vegeta could feel Kakarot's gaze on his neck and could translate his silence perfectly. Neither of them wanted to wait quietly for death.

Yes, there was only one solution to their predicament.

"What about the planet?" Vegeta asked.

"Even if Trunks, Goten and Gohan haven't been training a lot , Uub is strong enough now. Pan makes up with her fighting spirit too. This time I'm sure they could handle anything fighting together"

Vegeta slowly faced him letting him know he agreed, but, to his surprise, Kakarot's face looked remorseful. Vegeta expected him to show some excitement that they have come to the same conclusion. It was anything but.

Goku glanced back down at Bulma's window and again to Vegeta.

"I can't make you do that to her" he said with concern. It was no secret that since ChiChi had died, Goku had taken other people's feelings more in consideration. He had been the one being left behind, and the Dragonballs would not help with a natural death. He had forgotten how harsh was to lose someone you love definitely; after all, it had been over 50 years since Grandpa Gohan's death and life had been so good to think of that kind of stuff. Things between Goku and Chichi had been amazing after he had come back from training with Uub and the sudden separation had hit him very hard. He had asked Baba to let him visit her in the Otherworld, but there were rules regarding souls without bodies and they would have to wait until Goku's time. He was glad that at least he would get to talk to her soon and apologize for many, _many_ things.

Vegeta stared down at the terrace of his bedroom. "I'll talk to her"

"She's going to be heartbroken"

"Tch, don't underestimate her Kakarot. You know her better than that" Vegeta smirked taking a little pride on how strong willed his wife was.

"What are you going to tell her?"

"The truth. The facts. She will know this is the only solution" Vegeta hovered closer to the compound even without thinking. He would have to really make up to her in those weeks.

"She won't like it one bit"

"Hn" _Kami_, his ears were going to hurt in the morning, no doubt about it, but she would respect their decision "Your family is the one that will be a problem."

Goku sighed deeply and crossed his arms "I don't think I can't tell them, they'll take it badly. But we do _need_ to say good bye."

"Hn, we will think of something"

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><p><strong>Hello! Thanks for your support! <strong>**We are getting close to the end. I believe the next chapter will be the last. (EDIT: Nope, we will still have one more left, lucky you.) I'd love to know what you think of the story so far. **

**Cara2012 – I think that too. ;)**

**pani zagloba – Thanks. I was really happy to write that part. xD I always found it so funny and I wished they would have used it more later in the series. **

**DBZSaiyanPersonified – Yes, he IS clueless regarding some stuff, but it seems he can be as serious as he wants… he just chooses not to. xD Still love him though.**


	5. Chapter 5: Departure

**I don't own Dragon Ball or any of its characters. This story is based on the events of the official Dragon Ball Online timeline. ****GT never happened. **

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><p><em>"You...INCONSIDERATE BRUTE!"<em> Bulma's voice echoed through the halls around the kitchen and startled Trunks. He had been on his way to get some breakfast but it seemed his father had gotten in some kind of trouble. _"WHAT!? NO, I'M NOT CALMING DOWN!"_

When his mother got angry, he could swear that her ki doubled. With the proper training Trunks was sure Bulma would had been able to release tremendous amounts of power. Sadly, she was never interested 'on getting beaten and all sweaty'.

Trunks could hear his father, but he couldn't make out the words. He was trying to make a point or explain something, keeping his tone down, a feat in itself. -Dad, did you explode her lab again?- Trunks sighed shaking his head.

"OH, BUT OF COURSE! YOU ARE THE SAME! YOU TWO ARE INSANE! YOU TWO-! YOU-!" suddenly everything fell quiet.

-Maybe she started to throw stuff at him- the thought crossed Trunk's mind with a chuckle but after a couple of seconds of not hearing anything crashing, he decided to peek inside the kitchen and maybe see if his father required some assistance to escape the wrath of his mother. He was shocked to find his mother sobbing in his father's arms. Vegeta was caressing her blue hair with one hand, holding her close to him with the other one. She had taken her glasses away.

"Woman... I'm sorry." he whispered to her and the words made Trunk's eyes widen "You know-"

"I know!" she yelled sobbing and slammed her fists against his chest in frustation. "I know...!"

She gave up hitting him and just hanged onto his neck for dear life as the sobs subsidied. Vegeta grabbed her chin and kissed her forehead and then her lips softly.

Trunks stepped back baffled. He couldn't imagine what his father had done or told his mother but he was sure as hell this was a bad time to intrude. -At least it seemed they were making up- he decided to wait for other opportunity to talk to them later.

He didn't had to wait long. After an hour or so, Vegeta actually came looking for him at the studio.

"Are you up for a spar?" Vegeta said as he crossed the door without even bothering to knock. Trunks looked up and nodded. His father didn't seem phased at all and behaved as if nothing had happened that morning. Trunks wondered if he realized he had been near during the early incident.

"Yeah sure, just let me make a call to let them know I wont be available" he said taking the phone to contact his assistant.

"Good" The prince turned around heading out. When Trunks was younger, it wasn't strange for Vegeta to spend some time with him to appease Bulma's wrath. For him to start this direct approach meant he wanted to make up to her big time.

"Huh... Dad?"

"Yes?"

"Is everything ok with you and mom?"

Vegeta glanced back with his _"none of your business"_ glare but sighed and nodded. "Everything is alright"

Trunks smiled.

* * *

><p>"Where is it? It was here, I'm sure!" Goku said out loud as he threw back clothes after clothes from the closet. "Uhm... maybe the boxes? Yes, it should be there" he started to take wooden boxes out and sat beside them going through the contents, dozens of little trinkets and photos. "Nope. Not here... or here... or here. Oh, come on!"<p>

"Uhmm, grandpa?" Pan opened the door slightly. It was dinner time and Goku hadn't been at the table, so of course she had gotten worried something bad had happened to him. He was just so focused that he didn't hear her enter, but was exctasic when he found what he was lookig for.

"YES!" he rose with a white cloth in his hand.

"Grandpa?"

"AH!" Goku turned around startled trying to hide the dress behind him. "Pan! Hahahah... hehee, what's up?"

"Grandpa... what the heck is that?"

"Nothing!"

"Is that... a dress? Grandpa!" she tried to walk around him but he was not letting her see.

"What are you talking about?"

She pouted a little offended. "Fine, whatever. Dinner is ready and getting cold" she crossed her arms and looked away. Then Goku made the strangest face, like he was trying not to give in. He really didn't like Pan to be angry at him.

"Alright! Yes, its a dress" he sighed. Pan relaxed immediately and her eyes widened as he showed her the dress.

"Oh my god... is this-?" she stepped closer to have a better look and to touch the silk fabric.

"Your grandmother's wedding dress... " he said with a nostalgic tone. She looked at him in surprise and he locked her eyes smiling warmly.

"Why were you looking for this?"

"Oh... well, you know, this and that."

Pan narrowed her eyes.

"...and, uhm... I was thinking on your grandmother the other day, and realized she wanted to give you this when you marry"

"But grandpa, I don't have plans to marry. I just finished college (thank kami for that!)"

"You... aren't?" there was a slight dissapointment in his word that simply baffled her.

"Why would I?" she asked in disbelief. This was the last thing she would have ever imagined. Her grandpa waiting for her to marry? WHAT? This was just so bizarre.

"Well, your mom and dad finished college, and after a while they married."

Pan bursted out laughing. "Oh gee, no grandpa, hahaha! Don't joke like that! There are no boys at the moment I'm interested in. Most of them are scared of my strength" she stopped laughing at that part. Sure, she wasn't planning on marrying tomorrow but her love life had been actually lacking for a while now. She still didn't know how Bra managed to have dozens of guys ready to take her on a date at any given time. Wait, no, she knew why. It was a miracle that Vegeta hadn't killed any of them... yet.

"What about a promise?"

"Uh?" Pan frowned and remembered the story of him and Chichi. "Oh no, no. There hasn't been any promise to marry anyone either"

"Are you sure?" he asked hopefully with a grin. "I kinda forgot mine"

"No. No childhood promises, I'm sure" she shook her head. "What's got into you, grandpa?"

He sighed and sat down by the box, placing back the dress. "Well, your grandma really wanted you to have this dress. She told me so."

"She did?"

"Yep. When you were born, actually. She was very happy. So was I. She would go on and on that there was finally going to be a Son girl to give her wedding dress to."

Pan slowly sat on the opposite side from the box, a serious look in her face. "Ah... well, I'm not saying I won't use it"

"Really?" he beamed.

Pan shrugged "If I marry, yes, I'll use it. It's a little old school, but I'm sure I could work it out. But not any time soon, alright?" she chuckled and stood up, patting Goku on the head. "Let's go to have dinner. Everyone must be worried for us now"

"Hehehe, good! That's a relief! I'm sure you'll look just as beautiful as she did! Ok, I'll put it here. In THIS box. Don't forget." he said placing back the box on the closet as she headed for the door.

"C'mon grandpa, don't worry about that. We still have some time until then!" she giggled blushing a little.

Goku was lucky that Pan wasn't facing him at that moment so she didn't catch the smile dissappearing from his face. He watched her leave the room and looked back at the wooden box for a second before following her downstairs.

* * *

><p>After they had finished having dinner, the phone rang and Videl answered the phone. It was Bulma. For a second, Gohan had feared that Vegeta had had another accident, but it seemed everything was right for the cheerful tone of his wife's voice.<p>

"Mmmh, Pan? Yes, she just finished her last test. It was a breeze, she said" Videl said with pride and Pan blushed a little at the table. Pan then realized that Goku looked intently at Videl. "Oh... really? I'm sure she would love that!" Videl turned around and waved at her daughter. "Pan, Bulma wants to throw a party at her place for you. To celebrate your graduation."

"But I don't have the results yet-"

"I think that's a great idea!" Goku said with excitement getting up from his seat.

"Well, we did want to spent a weekend on the beach when you finished, but I guess Bulma's pool could do for the moment" Gohan nodded and blew some of the steam from his coffee.

"Trunks and I also celebrated there!" Goten cheered "It's only logical to keep the tradition"

"Ok, I guess" Pan shrugged finishing her slice of chocolate cake.

"Bulma? Yes, yes, she will like that... when? Next week? Sunday or Saturday? Yeah, Saturday sounds good" Videl turned around to give her daughter a thumbs up. "Alright, you'll invite the rest? Thank you Bulma! You are the best. We will see you then. Ok, sure. Bye!" she hang up and moved to give Pan a big hug from behind. "My girl is all grown up!"

"Moooom, you embarrass me!" Pan whined jokingly.

"Hey Pan" Goku leaned over the table. "Would you mind if I invite Uub? Wouldn't be better to have more people your age at the party?"

"Well, he's not exactly my age, is he?" He was like, what? 5 or 6 years older than her? Well, not much, taking into account she would hang out with Marron when she could. Goku make pleading eyes and it seemed that he really wanted Uub at the party. "I don't see why not. The more the better"

"That's the spirit!" Goku raised his fist in the air.

"Then maybe I should ask Piccoro-san to come. I don't think Bulma will be able to contact him easily" Gohan nodded placing his coffee at the table.

"Leave it to me!" Goku placed his two fingers on his forehead and dissappeared without another word.

"Wow, he's more excited about this than you, Pan" Goten teased the young woman. She simply shrugged. -At least he's not making me marry or something. Kami, that was strange- she blushed but her family missed that detail.

"It's been a while since we all gathered" Gohan pointed out sipping from his cup. "Is normal he's like that"

* * *

><p>"Krillin!" Goku ran over waving his hand. The week had passed quickly and the party at Capsule Copr was ready to start.<p>

"Goku! Well, I'll be damned! I didn't want to believe but you are finally showing your age! Nothing to worry about, my friend. We old geezers can give each other company" Krillin joked as 18 just rolled her eyes and moved over with Bulma. She hadn't aged a day. One of the perks of being a cyborg. Behind them Piccoro also arrived.

Marron ran the other way to give a big hug to Pan.

"You did it! I'm so happy for you! I told you you just needed to hang in there" the blond woman told Pan.

"Oh, come on, it couldn't be _that _hard" Bra offered them a drink.

"Says the girl that graduated at 16" Pan placed her hands on her hips.

"Is not my fault that I'm such a beautiful genius" she moved her hair back in a single dramatic motion and after a second the three girls started laughing.

On the other side of the party Mr. Satan and Yamcha were talking about some nonsensical stuff, while Buu was starting to check out the buffet. Trunks brought Goten and Gohan a beer.

"Thanks. It's a good party. Your mom knows how to make one" Gohan smiled at the blue eyed man.

"Don't mention it. I'm actually surprised she came up with it when she did"

"Why?" Goten frowned slightly. "She's always up to it"

"Well, she and dad had some kind of big arguing that day. "

"Isn't that... a little normal?" said Goten.

"This one was... different. I can't exactly tell why. And she doesn't use to make events soon after they fight."

"They look fine to me now" Gohan patted Trunks in the shoulder.

"Alright guys, I have a game I want to try" Goku called over everyone.

"What kind of game?" asked Uub. Trunks was surprised that he hadn't seen him arrive. Uub was still kind of shy and he could tell he didn't feel comfortable surrounded by so many people, but he was here just as his former teacher had asked.

"It's easy. I'll tie this handkerchief to my belt. The one that takes it wins!" he explained excited. "So, who wants to play!?"

There was a general silence.

"Wha...? Anyone?" Goku looked around waiting for a volunteer.

Vegeta had been hanging out in the back with Bulma. He frowned and walked over to Trunks and Goten.

"What are you two waiting for?" he pushed them forward grunting.

"Dad! Is not that we don't want to..."

"Is just... well, we know we can't win against him. He's the fastest of all of us."

"We will change the one with the stupid handkerchief after you beat him first" Vegeta assured.

"I'll do it" Pan stepped forward.

"Me too" Uub went to her side. Gohan nodded. Uub had the highest chance to catch him for sure. Then everyone was surprised by the third voice that joined them.

"Count me in" Krillin took of his jacket and started to make a quick warm up.

"Are you sure?" Videl asked from behind.

"Yep, I still have one or two tricks under the sleeve. It's not like I have to defeat him, just get that little thing" Krillin.

Goku's face brightened and they all could swear his eyes gleamed in joy. "GREAT! Ok, ready when you are!"

Bra stepped forward and gave a signal.

In a fraction of a second Goku, Uub and Pan disappeared from normal sight. Bulma, Marron and Mr. Satan had to follow the other's sight to try to catch a glimpse of them. Krillin had slowly flown up, like he was waiting for an opening.

"Heh... good tactic, Krillin" Piccoro snickered looking at the small man. Vegeta nodded in agreement. There wasn't much the midget could accomplish with his own speed, but maybe the opportunity would present itself.

"Gotcha!" they heard Uub yell, but he hugged the air. "Aw, shii-"

"Over here!" Goku waved his arm laughing behind him.

"Not so fast!" they heard Pan, and soon Goku was again out of sight.

"C'mon... c'mon" Krillin murmured.

_"OUCH!"_ there was a loud THUD in the sky. Pan and Uub had crashed head first against each other. They started to fall massaging their skulls and Goku was laughing his ass off a few meters away from them.

"Now!" Krillin screamed and charged all his ki for a boost on his speed. "AAAAAAAAH!" he flew at the Saiyan's direction as fast as he could.

Goku stopped laughing and fell back to a defensive pose with a smirk on his face.

"AAAAAAH! Wha-!?" Krillin stopped with a horrified expression on his face, looking down behind Goku. "Buu! Stop! Don't eat all the buffet!"

"WHAT!?" Goku shouted and turned around alarmed "WAIT! I HAVEN'T HAD ANYTHING YET! ...wait" Buu was simply drinking a chocolate milkshake looking at them.

"But I haven't eaten all of it..." the round pink manchild scratched his head in confusion.

"Huh?" Goku looked back. Krillin rose the handkerchief in victory.

"Hehehe, gotcha" Krillin chuckled, and cheering erupted from below.

"You never change" Yamcha patted Goku with a huge smile and both of them rose Krillin over their shoulders as the winner of the first game.

Uub and Pan looked at each other and sighed with a smile. Yep, that was Goku, alright. His stomach was his greatest enemy.

18 was about to go and congratulate her husband but caught a glimpse of a tear on Bulma's cheek. She had kept to herself for most of the party, making sure everything was perfect. Right now she was simply seated on a garden chair looking them up, her hands together grabbing tightly a piece of her dress.

"Do you need anything?" 18 whispered to her. She knew she wouldn't want to make a scene.

"Oh... no, this is nothing. Just remembering old times, that's all" Bulma said quickly drying the single tear.

After that, all the fighters felt like playing and the time passed quickly. Vegeta even made Bra join in with him, to everyone's surprise. When the time came to leave, Goku gave a hug to everyone but for Krillin he gave a BEAR HUG.

"You keep surprising me. You always think outside the box" he complimented his oldest friend.

"_Can't-breath._ AH. Ok... Heh. Nah, I just know you too well" Krillin snickered. Goku nodded and Krillin headed back to his family. He stopped for a second and turned around "I'll keep an eye on them".

Goku blinked. Krillin smiled and winked at him.

He knew. Goku slowly smiled back.

"Good bye, Krillin"

"Good bye, Goku" they nodded at each other, and Krillin walked away.

"Man, that was fun!" Goten felt full of energy. "Hey, what if he hang out next weekend too?" he asked Trunks.

"Yeah sure. I'd love to."

Goku turned to his eldest son. "Hey, Gohan"

"Uhm?" he said stretching his arms. It had been a while since he had so much physical activity.

"I'm... I'm going to fight with Vegeta."

"Ah, ok. Not a problem. We can fly home"

"Gohan" Goku stepped forward. "You did good in the game, you too Goten, I'm proud of you"

Goten blushed. "Sure dad, it was lots of fun"

The rest of the Son family said their farewell to the Briefs and at that moment Bra got a surprise call from a friend and she squealed excited.

"Trunks! Do you have the new prototype car?"

"Which one?"

"The red one of course!"

"What for?"

"I need it. I just got invited to an exclusive event. I need the BEST car"

"I'll drive you there"

"But-"

"You might loose it like the last one"

"Oh, you are never going to forget that! Ugh! Alright! Take me there!" she puffed and stomped her feet. Trunks just laughed as he threw a capsule ahead of them. Bra went to kiss her parents goodbye.

"Bye mom, bye dad. I'll be back later" she was about to turn away from Vegeta but he grabbed her hand. "Uhm?"

"Don't do anything I wouldn't approve of"

Bra sighed and nodded. "Yes, yes, daddy" she gave him an additional kiss in the cheek and then jumped into the hover car with Trunks. She waved farewell to her parents as her brother drove off.

"Well, I'm going home now too." Uub announced to Goku. "Bulma was very kind and gave me all the left overs of the buffet" he showed the capsule on his hand. "I bet they are going to love those chicken wings"

"Oh wait, Uub, uhm, Pan!" Goku quickly called for his granddaughter before she took off with her parents to Mount Paoz.

"Yes?" she looked at them confused, leaving her father behind.

"Why don't you race Uub to his village?"

"What? Why?" she raised and eyebrow.

"Well, right now you just need to focus a little more on your speed. You have been specializing on strength but that only can get you so far. Speed will be your triumph card, I tell you! This race can be a good way to start measuring your speed."

Pan nodded. "Ok, I guess I can do that. Get ready to see dust, Uub!"

"We will see about that" the young man snickered.

Before getting ready to race, Pan turned to Goku. "You are going to spar with Vegeta-san, right?" Goku nodded "I'll see you tomorrow morning then."

Silence.

"Ready...GO!" called Uub and they blasted away. In that moment Pan felt overly anxious, like she was missing something. She glanced back confused, seeing Goku waving his arm at her saying goodbye. A proud and bright smile on his face.

"Don't loose focus!" Uub shouted, making Pan turn her attention back to the race.

"YES" she charged all her ki, increasing her speed. Soon Capsule Corp and her grandfather were faraway behind her.

* * *

><p>"Wow, this is really fast!" Bra laughed as her hair flapped back and raised her arms against the wind.<p>

"I know, I was personally involved in the design" Trunks said with pride.

"Hey, Trunks" she blinked looking up. "Isn't that...?"

"Uh?" he raised his eyes to see a bright light going up through the sky. "That's... that's one of our space ships"

"Did you had a launch today?"

"No, nothing-... oh wait. I know! Dad and Goku were going to spar. Maybe they decided to do it somewhere else. They might get serious."

"Yeah, you are right, must be that" Bra nodded, not exactly feeling relaxed.

* * *

><p>Pan stopped cold mid her race.<p>

Something was not right.

"Pan?" Uub had stopped too and looked at her a little concerned.

"Wait" she raised her hand and looked around. -What was it?- She glanced at the horizon trying to figure out the reason of her sudden feeling. She looked up. "There's... just... something"

"Hn. Yeah, now that you mention it..." he looked up too. "I kinda feel something too, but there isn't any Ki or anything"

She sighed. She would ask her dad when she got home if he felt anything weird. It didn't feel like a threat, but she felt... anxious.

"I'm sure is nothing dangerous. Hey, are you ok?"

"Yes... " Pan said still looking up.

"Do you know if we are going to train later?"

"Train?"

"With Goku, yeah. Does he has any plans now that you graduated and have more free time?"

"Huh, well, he hasn't say anything about that. I'm sure he would've mention it. Why?"

"When he came to invite me for the party he asked me if I was afraid of your strength or something" he said confused scratching the bridge of his nose. Pan turned to look at him in utter shock. -'afraid of your strength'?...oh kami, he didn't...- "I thought maybe he wanted to include me as a sparing partner in your training or..."

He saw her face was turning red as a tomato. "Uh... Pan?"

"Wha!? No, no, it's nothing! I gotta go!" she flew away at top speed.

"What about the race-!?" but she was too far to hear him. "Wow... she I_S_ fast"

"OH GOD, GRANDPA! WHAT THE HELL!?" Was he trying to play matchmaker!? She arrived at home soon and went directly to her room. She could not believe him! Somehow she was going to kick Goku's ass as soon as he came back from his spar with Vegeta.

* * *

><p>Pan woke up in the morning with only one thing in her mind. She changed her clothes and stomped down to the dinning room. "GRANDPA!" she called.<p>

Gohan, Goten and Videl looked up startled. "Wha?" Goten had a pancake in his mouth.

"Where is he?" she crossed her arms.

"He hasn't come down for breakfast, I was about to-" Videl blinked confused.

"Don't worry mom... _I'll take care of this_" she said narrowing her eyes and a devilish smirk in her face. Pan hurried towards the other house.

"What's up with them?" Gohan asked not sure of what to think. Goten just shrugged and finished his pancake.

"HAHA, very funny grandpa! _VERY FUNNY_!" she made sure the sarcasm was clear. You never knew if Goku would get it the other way. She opened the door to his bedroom, only to find it empty.

Almost empty.

A wooden box had been left in the middle over the bed. The wedding dress box. It didn't have a note or anything. The bed was untouched so he hadn't come back to sleep in their house after the spar. That meant he had left the box there before they all went to the party.

Pan felt a chill down her spine. The same anxious feeling from the previous day invaded her tenfold.

* * *

><p>Bra lifted the sofa over her head. "DAMMIT" she shook the furniture and many little coins and a TV control fell to the floor, but not the one thing she was looking for. "Oh Kami, Trunks is going to kill me!"<p>

She had done it again. She had lost the damn car. She would never see the end of it. Trunks had agreed to leave the car with her when they arrived to the event. Why would this always happen to her!? She sighed and felt there was no other choice but to ask for help. With the almost photographic memory of his father, he might have seen it somewhere that morning. She walked to the door of the Gravity chamber and pushed the button to speak inside, leaning against the wall feeling defeated.

"Dad... by any chance did you see the red capsule labeled R54? The one Trunks was working on..." she waited a couple of seconds for an answer but she got nothing. She pushed again the button "Dad?"

She looked up confused and stepped back. It was past 9. He was suppose to be on his Gravity Chamber at that hour. Bra closed her eyes and used her Ki instead to locate him. She let it spiral outwards searching for his unique signature. There was Trunks in the bathroom. Her mother was on the living room. Her father... he was not in the compound. She frowned. She expanded her senses more. He was nowhere in the city or in several miles around... _"what the..."_ Her father didn't use to hide his Ki completely, there was no reason to do so. He actually believed that such power would keep other threats at bay when they got too close to Earth.

Bra then taped her head. "Of course! Duh! They went to spar in the space ship!" she laughed now feeling more at ease. She went to the living room to tell her mother about her silly slip. When the young woman entered, Bulma was sitting by the window, a cup of tea on her hand and watching the cerulean sky in silence. It was a wonderful day outside. Just then, the phone rang and she hurried to pick it up.

"Capsule Corp, how may I help-?"

"Bra" Pan's voice sounded loud and clear.

"Hey, what's up girl?" she giggled.

"Is my grandpa over there? Did he stay for the night after sparring with your dad?"

"Hahaha, no, he's not here. Don't worry, they went to spar somewhere else"

Back in the Son's household Videl was standing besides her daughter. "Sweetie, what's going on?"

"Where Bra? Where did they go?" Pan's demanding tone made Gohan and Goten turn around from the living room and forget the show they were watching.

"Well, I don't know" Bra felt Pan was being quite disrespectful. Seriously, this girl lacked with her people skills. "They took a ship and went somewhere outside the planet, they haven't come back yet"

"They... left?" Pan repeated incredulous.

"Yeah. Just after the party."

Pan opened her mouth but nothing came out. In her mind, things started to fall one by one into place. _-They left-_ The words echoed in her mind forming a dark revelation.

_"Well, your grandma really wanted you to have this dress. She told me so."_

Her lip trembled. "...no..."

_"I'm sure you'll look just as beautiful as she did!"_

Her vision became blurry.

_"Ok, I'll put it here. In THIS box. Don't forget."_

"...Pan? Are you still there?" Bra's voice seemed so far away.

_"I think that's a great idea!" Goku said with excitement getting up from his seat_.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Videl grabbed her daughter by the shoulders. She had started to shake.

_Goku's face brightened and they all could swear his eyes gleamed in joy._

"Hello? Hello? C'mon, don't leave me just hanging here!" Bra complained in the phone.

_He was waving, saying goodbye to her._

"...he's..." the tears started to flow.

_He was waving._

"...he's gone..."

What came after was such sorrowful cry that it made Gohan leap out of the sofa and in less than a second he was at her side. "Pan! PAN!" Goten looked at them in disbelief. He had never seen Pan like this before.

She couldn't form the words. There was just crying and tears coming out for her. She tried to move away, away from the embrace of her father and her mother's pleading to explain. She had to run... but there was nowhere to run and escape the pain that was smothering her, no, but she had to try, or else...

Somehow she managed to slip the grasp of her father and flew to the exit.

* * *

><p>"HELLO? HELLO!?" Bra was now getting all worried and started screaming at the phone. Finally she heard Videl's voice.<p>

"What did you tell her?"

"What just happen!?"

"Bra! I need to know what you told her!"

"Nothing! Just that my dad and Goku took a spaceship to go sparing! THAT'S ALL!" Bra was desperate trying to make sense. She looked back at her mother, expecting her to be ready to take charge of the phone call and get some straight answers but she found her still looking through the window, placing down her empty cup of tea. "M-mom?"

"Is Pan, isn't?" Bulma simply asked, somehow knowing the answer.

"Yes! She turned all crazy! Eh-? Videl?" the mother of her friend was asking her something else. "Ok, ok, I'll do that! Kami, she lost it!" she said taking the phone to a computer in the other room.

"What are you doing Bra?" Bulma calmly followed her daughter.

"I'm going to open the communication link with the ship. Just to show Pan everything is ok with them" She shook her head not believing what was happening. She turned the computer on and waited for the interface to load. "Dad is going to hate us for interrupting"

"It won't work" Bulma placed a hand over her daughter's hand to keep her from using the mouse.

"What?" she looked up to her mother. "Why not? They are only a day away, there is no cosmic interference and-"

"They asked me to disable all of the communications"

Bra stared at her mother wide eyed.

"...what? Why would they-?" she was a smart girl, she had always been. And she did take after her father's ability to understand without saying. And her mother's silence told her _everything_. She didn't want to believe it. "He's... not coming back this time... is he?" Bulma simply hugged her and caressed her hair.

Bra gave out just a small whimper knowing full well her father would not have approved of her sobs.

* * *

><p><strong>5500 words chapter. Wow, that <em>was<em> long. It just kept coming and coming to me, and I'm not done here. We are going to have ONE more chapter. Just one. I promise. ;)**

**Many would wonder why I take Pan point of view a lot. Well, Toriyama once stated that if there was any new series Pan would have to be a main character, and I really see his point. There was so much wasted potential on GT and I actually disliked what they did to her character overall.**

**Of the characters that are alive... well, Tien and Krillin are alive at this point of the Dragon Ball Online timeline. I included Yamcha, because, why not? I also believe that 18 would stay like that and that she's technically immortal given her unlimited energy supply (unless she gets killed of course). Roshi is alive too but I decided not to describe him at the party because... well, I'm sure he would've just tried to grope Pan, Bra and Marron. 9_9 **

**Thanks for reading and don't forget to leave a review!**


	6. Chapter 6: Brilliance

**I don't own Dragon Ball or any of its characters. This story is based on the events of the official Dragon Ball Online timeline. ****GT never happened. **

* * *

><p>The great tree provided the young woman with a fresh shadow. She was hugging her legs, her head resting against her knees. She could hear the birds chirping at her, the squirrels scurrying from one branch to another and in the lake before her, a fish would try now and then to fly towards the sky. But she wasn't sure she would ever enjoy them again. She felt numb.<p>

Three days. She had cried for three days. There weren't any tears left. She was spent. Now, she just held to herself wondering how was she supposed to go on without him. How did he expected her to go on without_ him_? Did he ever understand that when he took off? He had been the world to her. She had dwell on these thoughts until she fell asleep, and then woke up three times to the terrible absence of his essence from this planet. He wouldn't come back.

She bit her lip.

She immediately realized that an old familiar ki slowly made his way to her. She made no move to avoid him. She was just so tired. So tired of running, so tired of hiding.

Three days ago, she had broken down, and with that burst of golden energy, she had flown fast like never before, away from everything, away from her father. Then she had disappeared her ki and simply hid in the forest. She didn't want them to tell her that everything was going to be alright, because they would be lying. Nothing was going to be the same and to face that reality just froze her. She had heard her father calling her from the sky, asking her to come out, pleading her to let him help her. He eventually left to look somewhere else for her.

The familiar ki finally arrived and landed a few feet from her.

"You are hard to find, Pan" Krillin said softly at the young woman.

Pan didn't answer. She simply turned her head to the other side.

"Your dad and mom are really worried"

"Did they send you to look for me?" her voice sounded so alien to her. So coarse. She had screamed for hours at the sky... at him.

"Nope. They called me to know if I had seen you... and I kinda figured out you would be here"

Pan lifted her head to watch him.

"How did you know where I was?" she frowned slightly. She made sure to hide her ki completely. There was no way someone could have sensed her.

"Well..." he stepped closer to her and looked slowly around "This spot. We came here once before, a long time ago. Goku told me he used to bring Gohan here to fish and for picnics with your grandmother. I just had the hunch that he would have brought you here too... and you would like to find a place connected to him"

Her expression had changed drastically, going from pain from hearing _his_ name, to confusion, to anger.

"_He left us_" she said in an accusatory tone.

"Pan...-"

"HE LEFT US!" her fists were ready to punch someone.

"Pan, you need to understand..."

"What is there to understand!? He left his family! He's not coming back! I thought... I thought... I hoped he-"

Krillin sat at her side in the cooling shadow.

"Pan, please, don't blame him"

"How can I not!? First it was Uub! And then-"

"No, kid, this goes way back. Before you were born... before Gohan was born. I'm sure you had heard the stories from when he was young. The truth is, we are partly to blame for how he is. He would be sent to train alone for years at a time, all by himself. And we would be waiting for him all that time. We placed our hopes and lives on him, and he trained as hard as he could and never let us down. To leave was the way he had learned to live. I was actually surprised he had managed to work out his marriage to Chichi. But the thing is... he never changed. In a way it was his greatest strength and his greatest fault. Being a Saiyan never helped his case either. He would look out for the next big challenge, the next big adventure, the next journey... He never changed. Even when he died against Cell, I bet that the idea of meeting the strong warriors of the Otherwold intrigued him. With the years, the rest of us just learned to accept the way he was."

"_He had changed_" she assured him almost offended. "When he went with Uub he promised to visit us. He kept his promise! He didn't just left! Even when grandma died, he went out on his own for a while, but he also came back to us!" the memory of him also disappearing that time assaulted her heart. He had come back after a month when she reached out worried for him. She knew this time he wouldn't answer her call.

"Have you ever thought he did it for you?"

"...what?" she whispered.

"When you were little and he left with Uub, Gohan was a grown man, and believe me, he was more than used to him leaving. Goten was a teenager begging for space and his own identity. But... Goku knew that you and Chichi needed him. I'm sure that promise was for you and her. He loved you both deeply"

Pan looked at the ground biting her lip. "And now? Just because I'm older doesn't mean I don't-..."

"Pan, you must understand, he needed to do this. Both of them"

"To what!?" she stood up not wanting to hear the rest "Run around from planet to planet with Vegeta, beating baddies in their last years?"

Krillin's eye bucked in shock. "Wait, Pan, you haven't... you didn't hear the rest?"

"I haven't talked to-" she felt a knot on her throat, there was just so much emotion she could barely control herself.

"Pan" he gave her a stern look. "He's dying"

"He was getting old, and just for that they leav-"

"No, he IS dying" Krillin cut her short "Bulma explained it to us. He didn't have time left." Pan stared at him in disbelief. "In a matter of days he would have been gone"

Her legs gave out and she fell down to her knees. "What?"

"The moment I saw him at the party, it just clicked. He wanted to say goodbye to everybody with a smile. No crying, no sadness. He wanted everyone to have a good memory with him. You see now? It was his only chance to do it"

"But he could have told us. He could have-" Pan shook her head trying to make sense of her own thoughts.

"Stay here and die quietly?" the words hit her stronger than any punch in her life. Krillin cleared his throat; he hadn't meant to be so direct. "For them... there is no other way to end their story. This is their final journey." Pan's hands grasped the dirt and grass below, she looked up at him trying to hold back tears she didn't even knew she had left. "They are going to fight each other for the last time"

Pan whimpered hanging her head and Krillin held her shoulders giving her some time to let it all out. After a minute of two of sobbing, she finally got a hold of herself and sat back against the tree sighing deeply. Sometimes, it just scared her how much, how deeply, she loved him. And right now, it was hurting so much to agree with Krillin. If given the choice, she knew Goku would prefer to die fighting. The last fight. The best fight. There would be no tomorrow for them. And she knew he would love it. She could picture him now; the expectation to fight Vegeta at his full strength. The ultimate challenge.

"You are right" she whispered with a bittersweet smile. "He never changed"

"Hn" Krilin looked at the tranquil lake. "Pan, don't worry, you will meet him again one day."

"Yes" she nodded as a strange peace invaded her. "One day"

They stood there like that for a while, just enjoying the cool breeze of the lake.

"You would be a good teacher" Pan said with a smile.

"Are you trying to recruit me for the Satan Martial Arts School, Miss Son?" Krillin joked. "Nah... I'm not sure I'm a good teacher... I mean, 18 would kill me if I start behaving like Roshi"

"You do have a way" she chuckled.

"Hey... I wanted to ask you" Krillin sat straighter looking at her.

"Uhm?"

"Did you really... ascend?" he let the question linger in the air. Every other ki user in the planet had felt the spike of energy three days ago. But as soon as it had appeared, it was gone. That was the first sign for the rest of their friends that something was up, and Krillin had a pretty good idea of whom that energy might have come from.

"Does it even matter now?" she rested her head back against the tree, closing her eyes.

"Well, that's a big accomplishment and I'm sure you would have loved to-" he stopped talking, leaving his mouth open in surprise. They felt a ki... Pan's eyes opened in shock.

_His ki_. THEIR ki.

She was on her feet looking around before even registering getting up.

"Where is he!? Did he change his mind!?" she said hopefully that they had turned around their ship or teleported back to Earth.

"No, no. They are releasing they power... they are not hiding their ki at all."

"We... we can feel that from another planet?" she asked baffled. Pan had never tried to feel something beyond Earth, there was no point. Goku and Vegeta would keep their energy always partly hidden, just enough to let everyone else aware of their presence when they were not fighting.

"Heh, that's right. You missed those fights. When they fought Kid Buu, you could feel them from another dimension" he snickered.

"Wait, that means-" she gasped.

"...Their fight is starting" Krillin concluded and they looked at each other anxiously. Pan didn't know what to do, but it wouldn't last long. Hundreds of miles away they felt several kis heading towards one point: Capsule Corp.

"They are all going to meet up at Bulma's" whispered Pan.

In a blink, both of them were flying towards West City.

* * *

><p>"Do you know how is Bra taking this?" Pan shouted back as they flew.<p>

"The last thing I heard is that she was in the Gravity Room with Trunks" Krillin said loudly as the air hit them in the face.

"They are training!?" she was surprised and the old man shrugged.

"They are Vegeta's"

Now, she felt awful. She could imagine Bra having such a crisis. Vegeta had always asked her to come and train with him but she simply had other interests in mind. Sure, she knew how to fight, fly and blast things away, but her power was way below any of the other fighters. This incident might have shook her deeply.

-And what have I been doing? Brooding on my own sadness and anger. No. He would have never wanted that- she shut her eyes close -No more tears- she promised herself.

They heard a voice calling them getting close rapidily.

"Pan! Krillin-san!" Uub immediately arrived at their side. "Pan, are you ok? We have been looking for you"

Pan opened her mouth and it took her a little will power to speak. She was still embarrassed for what Goku might have implied with him. "You were looking for me?"

"I felt your ki spike and when I headed to your house to investigate I found your dad in the way" Uub explained "We split to cover more terrain to find you"

"I'm sorry. I just... needed space"

"It's alright. I'm just glad you are fine" Uub nodded at her, but then he became more serious "They are really going to fight, aren't they?"

"Yes" said Krillin.

"We better hurry with the others then"

* * *

><p>In less than 15 minutes they arrived to the huge yellow dome of Capsule Corp. Outside, Gohan and Videl were already waiting for them.<p>

"Pan!" Gohan hovered quickly to meet his daughter.

"Dad!" she almost tackled him and hugged him. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just couldn't-"

"Hn" a sad smile on his face "I get it... I really do" he turned to Krillin "Thank you"

"Don't mention it. I promised I would look out for them"

Videl had also come up to hug her daughter and when all was said and done they looked back at the building. They made their way through the lobby and then to the great living room. Everyone was there: Piccoro, Yamcha, Dende, Popo, Tienshinhan, Roshi... even Buu and Grandpa Satan were present. He ran to her looking her from head to toe.

"My Pan! PAN! Are you alright!?" he said with big tears in his eyes.

"I'm fine, grandpa. I'm sorry I worried you"

Trunks and Bra were standing beside their mother. It struck Pan that she indeed looked like a queen with her children. With Goku and Vegeta gone that could very well be the case.

Pan feared that somehow Bra was going to hate her now. Goku was after all the one that was going to die sooner, so losing her father too was technically his fault. Pan stood there not really knowing what to say or do. Bra stepped closer, her eyes giving small hint that she had been crying. She was still dressed in the full blue training suit. She simply reached out to Pan and hugged her tightly. They held each other for a while, realizing that this incident had brought them closer. Trunks and Goten in the other hand were strangely quiet and, to her surprise, Trunks had his old sword strapped to his back.

"Can any of you tell me what's happening with them?" Bulma spoke and looked at everyone present.

Uub sighed. "Not exactly... right now we can tell they are fighting. Their ki spike with every hit. It's like they were sparks every time they clash."

Piccoro nodded. "Most likely they are warming up, measuring their current strength."

"I see" Bulma grabbed Trunks hand on her shoulder.

"I'll tell you if there's-"

Gohan's eyes widened. "Kamehameha" he whispered as they felt a very distinct ki signature flare up. Vegeta's ki dodged it and responded with-

"Big Bang Attack" Trunks grinned.

Everyone smiled with him.

It was strange. Their friends were out there, trying to kill each other, but now that they knew the situations it felt right. In truth, they were honoring each other in their own Saiyan way. They knew how important this was for them.

What came afterwards was what Pan could only describe as a breathtaking dance. They were fighting rarely using any blasts. It was slowly escalating, at each passing second one of them was trying to best the other. After almost an hour, both of their Ki suddenly raised.

"Level 2!" Uub called out excited. He had only sparred with Goku twice in that state. It had been way too much for him to handle but Goku had assured him that he would be able to surpass even that one day.

Pan was nervous as the end was drawing closer.

Bra frowned. "Wait...will Goku reach SSj3 to finish the fight?"

Piccoro shook his head "No, I was even doubting they would be able to hold this transformation with the state of their bodies. There's no way Goku will be getting that one"

"They have been doing this for a while now..." Yamcha pointed out. "How long do you think they can keep this up?"

"There's no telling really" Krillin face was focused, his eyes closed trying not to miss anything.

They stepped up the game. There were 'sparks' everywhere as Uub had described them.

Pan gulped, all her body tensing up. Everyone else clenched their teeth. Those were serious... _SERIOUS_ hits. The planet they were on must have been getting chunks thrown out into the space with that force. And as clear as the day, Goku hit Vegeta and suddenly, the prince's Ki disappeared, followed by Goku's.

There was complete silence in the room. No one dared to move a muscle.

"That's... it?" Pan asked, afraid of the answer. Uub shook his head.

"I doubt it"

"How can you be sure?"

"You need more than that to kill my dad" Trunks nodded. It was true, he had seen his father get horribly beaten by Majin Buu and still hold his own.

"Dende, can you contact Kaio-sama to know what's happening?" Bulma inquired with the Earth's Guardian.

"I apologize. I tried earlier. Goku asked him not to intervene... but Kaio-sama promised he would let us know when it's over" the only thing they could do was to wait. Another half an hour passed without any signal of their ki. Maybe they had lowered theirs to a point they wouldn't be able to sense from such a distance.

Goten was about to leave to find something to drink. His mouth was dry and he wasn't sure he would be able to stand waiting much longer. Just as he was going to ask Trunks if he needed anything, their Ki reappeared.

"THERE!" he shouted startling most of them. They were back in their base level but steadily raising their Ki.

"The real fight is about to start" Piccoro assured smiling. But after a minute or two, nothing happened.

"They are... just standing there" Krillin looked at Gohan and Piccoro with a puzzled expression.

Somehow, the truth hit Pan in that moment.

_"They are saying goodbye to each other"_ he eyes widened and she clenched her fist. She felt Goku' ki washing over her from that faraway place, and he was about to be gone forever. That dreadful feeling caught her heart again. She wished... she wished to say goodbye as well, a proper farewell. She had just waved at him before. She wanted him to know that she would never forget about him, that she loved him, that she had ascended-...

Pan froze for a second. Next thing, she was running out of the room.

"Pan!" it had been too fast even for Uub to realize that she was gone.

"Again?" Krillin said sighing.

But she didn't ran way far. She got to the yard and flew over Capsule Corp, reaching as high as she could. Where she got to a point where she was still able to breath, she let her Ki out. She let it all explode.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH"

A golden aura surrounded her, transforming into a Super Saiyan.

"Pan, what are you doing?" she heard her father closer by the second, but she did not answer, her mind was focused on only one thing: Raising her ki to the limits. Trunks, Bra, Uub, Piccoro, Krillin and Goten had chased her up wondering what was she up to too. "Pan... are you trying to... contact him?" Gohan asked figuring out.

"YES!" she shouted through the golden energy. Suddenly, Bra was besides her also screaming her lungs out. Pan was impressed. In three days in the Gravity Room Bra had managed to raise her power almost tenfold. She was still leagues behind Trunks and Goten but it was quite a feat on itself. Soon the rest were letting their ki felt as far as possible, wondering if Goku and Vegeta would be able to sense them.

...

Goku's Ki pulsed in a very distinct way. Almost like a wink. He was answering to their collective signal.

Pan burst out in tears realizing Goku had managed to sense her. "I DID IT GRANDPA! I DID IT! I became a Super Saiyan!"

"Dad..." Bra gasped as she felt her father's ki do the same "I'll make you proud! I SWEAR!"

* * *

><p>Goku smiled looking up, his face was covered in dirt and blood. His gi, as always, was halfway torn and his black hair waved gently with the cold wind. On the other side of the great chasm, another figure was standing against the desolate skyline of this forgotten planet. Vegeta was looking up too, a prideful grin decorating his face. So very much like their first encounter, they had come full circle.<p>

-Pan, this is your Super Saiyan ki- his smile couldn't get any wider.

"Vegeta... they are watching the fight too" Goku turned his attention to his lifetime rival, his friend, the only individual of his race he had come to regard as family. A kindred soul.

"Hn" Vegeta gave him a meaningful smirk. "Let's make this worth watching, Kakarot"

**_Yes._**

Goku beamed in excitement. They were not afraid. Any doubt they had during their trip was now a blurry memory. The very moment they started to fight without any other concern was something they had longed for decades. A dream come true indeed. Goku could barely believe he was experiencing such joy in this last battle.

They looked at each other in silence. They had already said what there was left to say. It was time to finish.

The planet rumbled in anticipation. The air howled. Particles of dirt and rocks levitated from the ground around them.

The two of them flew in the others' direction, leaving a golden trail of aura behind.

_"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"_

* * *

><p>Pan and the others were already back on the ground. She was panting heavily, totally spent. Bulma and the rest had also gone outside to see what was happening with them.<p>

"Are you alright?" Bulma asked her children. Bra almost jumped on her laughing and with tears in her eyes.

"He sensed us! Dad answered!" Bra was ecstatic. This time, Bulma wasn't able to keep the mask and tears of joy rolled down her cheeks holding her daughter.

"They are starting again" Krillin said drying a tear from his eye.

They agreed with smiles, but soon enough they were speechless. Their power wasn't diminishing at all after their last encounter. On the contrary... It kept going and going! Goku's Ki would raise and Vegeta would reach him soon after, forcing him to power up in turn.

"...Ah..." was all Pan could say. It was simply overwhelming.

Even Bulma started to get chills down her spine.

"_That's just not possible_" Gohan murmured in disbelief. They were going beyond their limits! If he didn't know better he could have sworn both of them had reached Super Saiyan 3.

More. _Higher._ **_Brighter!_**

Piccoro and Krillin looked at each other. This power... what they were feeling seemed awfully similar to Vegeta's Final Explosion. Only both of them had gotten to witness its power, but this was even beyond that technique. The result would obliterate everything, local solar system and all.

Their splendid Ki collided and burned brighter than the sun, relentlessly raising. Everyone froze into place in awe as a magnificent radiance that overwhelmed the senses exploded somewhere in the galaxy. Goku and Vegeta's ki flared one last time and were engulfed in that blinding brilliance.

Then, nothingness.

Everyone was quiet. Bulma squeezed her children hands. "How was it?" she asked softly.

"It was glorious, mom" Trunks said still in awe _"It was glorious"_ he repeated it whispering.

* * *

><p>Sunset had already come and gone over West City. Inside the building, family and friends were sharing their stories, tears and love for the two Saiyans, and even if they had all been terribly sad to learn the truth days ago, there was a distinct feeling of hope and satisfaction in their hearts. After almost four decades of waiting, their wish had become a reality.<p>

Goku and Vegeta were now truly gone, but they had left on their terms, and Pan was sure they had done it with a smile in their faces. She sighed standing outside looking at the stars, wondering which one was the final resting place of her grandfather.

The cold night breeze moved her hair and she heard steps on the grass coming close to her.

"You know..." Uub timidly approached her "I think I understand what Goku meant the other day by asking me if I was afraid of your strength"

"Oh, Uub... I don't think this is the right time-" she remembered the conversation she had with Goku about the wedding dress, and she was sure she was not ready to give awkward explanations.

"No, no, this is important, hear me out" he raised his hand motioning her to wait "Look, I think he wanted me to take over your training"

"huh?" she turned around raising and eyebrow.

"I believe he knew you were close to ascend and that the news of his leave would have such an impact on you. When you went up there to say goodbye with your Ki, I felt your power and I can say it's great, but...erh... you were not controlling it properly..." Pan could tell he was trying not to offend her with that last line.

"But Uub, how could you help me with my Super Saiyan transformation?"

"I know I don't have Saiyan blood and all that, but... your dad won't be able to supervise your training any time soon because he has his research" he scratched the back of his head "You see, I was used to spar with Goku even when he transformed and I'm very familiar with the way he managed his ki. I kinda feel I must help you with that in any way I can, because I'm sure he wanted for you to reach your full potential. Is the least I can do after all what he did for me"

Pan stared at him and Uub was unsure how she had taken his offer. A small warm smile appeared on her lips.

"You cared for him a lot, right Uub?" her voice turned soft, just realizing truly how good and kindhearted he was.

"Yeah, he was like family" Uub nodded relaxing a little seeing she wasn't mad or offended.

She turned her gaze back to the stars and, for a second, she swore that one of those stars winked at her in a complicit way.

Pan's smile widen.

"Hn. We will being training tomorrow then" she gave him a thumbs up, very much like Goku had done hundreds of times before "We will train hard and protect this planet that he loved so much."

"Right!" Uub beamed and shook hands with her "It's a promise!"

Something had just born on Pan's heart. A warm and happy feeling she hadn't guessed she could feel for the young man. She wasn't sure if Goku had planned all this for her training or to match them up. After all, he knew Pan better than anyone... and he knew Uub better than anyone too. Maybe he had seen something they had missed until now. A possibility.

-Alright, grandpa. I'll give it a try…- she gave a last look to the sky before following Uub inside.

* * *

><p>It was well past midnight when everyone left Capsule Corp. Videl, Gohan, Pan and Goten left flying holding hands towards their home in the mountains. There was no Goku or Vegeta to save the day anymore. The future was scary and maybe someday a new powerful foe would come to Earth, but she was going to be ready for them then. Goten too had changed too. The look on his eyes showed resulution to live up to his full potential and return training.<p>

Gohan had been quiet in deep thought for most of the way, but offered a warm smile every time he caught Pan looking at him. Together, they made a silent agreement to take over the protection of this planet in memory of their beloved Son Goku.

Everyone was so focused on their feelings and wondering on how would they fare, that no one remembered what Dende had said hours before. Even the Namekian had simply forgotten about it. Kaio-sama had promised to contact them to let them know when everything was over.

_He hadn't._

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you so much for all your support and kind messages! I want to give a big hug for everyone who felt like crying on Chapter 5. I hope this finale lifts your spirits. This has been a journey on itself for me with my writing. I wasn't sure I could pull it off the way I envisioned but I'm very satisfied with the results.<strong>

**When Dragon Ball Online came out, I was just baffled to learn the details of the new timeline. For those who didn't know, this is the official text that was the inspiration for this fanfic:**

_Age 801_

_Goku goes missing. Both Goku and Vegeta knew their lives were near an end, and leave Earth for a final battle. Years later, supernovas are detected; they are assumed to be from Goku and Vegeta's battle._

**It struck me that their "lives were near and end". Vegeta was just on his 70's and Goku was way, WAY younger than that thanks to his 7 years on the Otherworld. I started wondering what exactly might have been the reason for this and the only thing I could think of was the SSj3. He was beyond exhausted after he used it, he simply wasn't even able to transform. And for Goku those are big words. I also left the ending open as the same text doesn't say "Goku/Vegeta dies". They simply "go missing". If anything, I'm sure they will try to use that interpretation in the game's main story line later down the road. ;3**

**On a DBZ related comment, I must say that I'm very excited for the announcement of the new 2013 movie. Given the timeframe available it must be in the following 5 years after the defeat of Majin Buu. Why not during the 10 years until Uub? Well, if you remember well, Bulma complained with Goku at the end of DBZ that he had not seen them in 5 years. Also, the official movie poster shows Trunks and Goten still as young kids so I guess it must be around the time of the 2008 Special.**

**In any case, I want to thank everyone again. I'll start writing another DBZ Fanfic soon, most likely an oneshot but I might change my mind if I can make it work properly. I would love to have your input there and hear your thoughts.**

**Remember, this is not a goodbye but a farewell, MATANE!**


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